Many different surgical procedures require implantation of anchors and the like for various reasons. For example, some hernia repairs utilize anchors of some type to hold a hernia repair mesh in place during healing. Another example is vaginal vault prolapsed repair, where the vaginal cuff is attached or otherwise secured to tissue within the pelvic cavity, such as the sacrospinous ligament. In one described method for such repairs, the vaginal cuff is secured to the sacrospinous ligament using two surgical anchors that are inserted through the vaginal cuff and ligament using a suitable instrument, with trailing sutures tied together within the vagina.
With this procedure as with many others, proper orientation of the anchor can be critical during implantation. Without proper orientation, the anchor may not deploy properly and may not adequately hold the tissue. The delivery device or instrument must be able to contact and possibly manipulate the tissue prior to deployment of the anchor, all without altering the positioning of the anchor relative to the instrument. This is of particular importance during blind procedures where the surgeon cannot verify relatively positioning prior to implantation. If the orientation changes, the tissue penetrating end may not be aligned properly, requiring unacceptably high tissue penetration forces and/or less than optimal tissue grasping ability. Further, once the tip of the anchor does penetrate the desired tissue plane(s), it must be effectively uncoupled from the delivery device so that it remains in place as the delivery device is retracted from the tissue.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved device and method for ensuring that proper positioning of an anchor or the like relative to an inserter can be maintained during implantation of the anchor.